Millions of business cards are printed in the U.S. daily. But how many of them are actually useful?
A few, according to Wichitan Kori DaCosta.
“You get a good return on investment at a conference but you get a lot of leads that aren't necessarily high quality,” he said. “You don't actually know where your information is going and who's actually using it and who's coming back to you.”
Since 2022, DaCosta has been experimenting with his digital business card startup Biio at his software development studio Sun & Prairie Studios, which has a brick-and-mortar office at 1009 S. Broadway. He started designing Biio’s website and mobile app in October.
Since then, DaCosta has launched the app’s minimum viable product — a basic version of the app that is open to customer feedback. He has participated in entrepreneurship cohorts by organizations like NXTUS, Kansas Leadership Center and ICT Urban Professionals to validate the product for Wichita.
What is Biio?
DaCosta, a stay-at-home father of two, said he has had multiple jobs in his 12-year career as a freelance software developer. He said typical business cards couldn’t grasp his job roles or the projects he had started, which pointed to a bigger problem.
“There's an inefficiency where business cards are expected in a professional setting but everyone has so much information they want to share,” he said. “So, how do we consolidate that and provide the most important and right information to who we’re talking to?”
Along with individual consumers, DaCosta said Biio can cut costs for businesses. He said businesses spend $30,000 to $50,000 per year on printing business cards according to his research, which excludes design, delivery and turnover costs.
Additionally, he said delivery delays add to a sluggish networking system for employees.
“A lot of times people will say they place orders with some of the competitors and they'll take six months for them to get their cards,” he said. “By that point, the lead is gone.”
With Biio, he says businesses can navigate through challenges like delivery delays and employee turnovers quickly.
DaCosta said Biio uses Near Field Communication — a technology that allows devices, like smartphones, to communicate with each other when they're close together — that allows users to share business profiles, portfolios, websites and projects, which is stored on the mobile app or the user’s web portal.
When users buy the Biio card, DaCosta said they receive a device key that allows them to access services and add their relevant experiences. He said customers can use a virtual card on their phone that includes a QR code and the device key or add a metallic business card made out of aluminum, which they can tap on an individual’s phone to share their credentials.
DaCosta said users can reprogram the card to consolidate profiles according to their audience. Users can show LinkedIn and Facebook profiles in the same space as their project-centered portfolios like Patreon and Github accounts, YouTube channel links and blog websites.
The virtual card option is available to users at $25 and $40 for the physical card.
“I asked people during my experimentation how much they would pay for these features,” he said. "Some people were much higher and some were much lower so I tried to find something in the middle that works for the business and our customers.”
He added it would have been “counter-intuitive” to go with a subscription model for Biio — at least for now.
“If you're trying to eliminate a recurring cost and have something sustainable, do you want to add another subscription?” he asked. “You're basically doing the same thing you were doing with a paper card.”
What’s next for Biio
DaCosta said the business card has received roughly 200 orders to date, which include individual professionals and businesses.
He said finding the right customer has been a challenge.
“It's so difficult because it's not for everybody,” DaCosta said. “If they check those boxes, then it makes sense. If they don't, then maybe they may not be an early adopter, or it's just not the right time for them yet or they want to learn more about it first, which is fine by me.”
He added that dealing with people’s perceptions of tech startups being apathetic businesses that are “out to get your money” also becomes difficult.
He said he is in Year 2 of his 4-year plan for Biio, which includes experimentation, validation and growth.
“I'm kind of wrapping up validation and moving into growth,” he said. “And now I’m exploring more of the B2B side of things.”
DaCosta, part of NXTUS's NXTSTAGE Enterprise Engagement Cohort, said he is exploring the possibility of adding analytics to his card with his current metric being how many taps a customer has made using the card.
DaCosta said he is also working on a portal for businesses to edit and manage their business cards, which can make the product a sustainable investment.
While personal funding and word-of-mouth marketing have worked for his startup till now, DaCosta said he is ready to market the product on a larger scale in the city and potentially reach out to local angel investors.
“My focus is our local market and obviously going out a little bit as we stabilize the market here,” he said. “I love the idea of keeping it in-house and local at the very least. Improving Wichita is what matters to me. I think there's a huge opportunity for Biio and I'm just trying to work on that.”
